Official Strava/Runkeeper Thread - Page 34

Kodos · 07-14-2014, 08:50 AM

Yeah, the heat and humidity are killers. I was feeling it toward the end up my 8 mile run yesterday.

Fidatelo · 07-14-2014, 09:57 AM

I would kill for some heat. The high was 12 degrees celcius yesterday. Technically that's probably really good running weather but I just want a stretch of nice, hot sunny days to run in for awhile.

Not that I ran yesterday, but still

Icy · 07-14-2014, 11:37 AM

Yesterday i was going to run 12k, but at 34ºC (93F) at 21:00! I was wasted after 7K and ran 3k more to a total of 10k, when i had to stop and walk back home the remaining 2k.

I guess it was because the temperature even drinking at every k (ran with a camelback water pack).

HerRealName · 07-14-2014, 03:28 PM

It was 96 when I finished today but the rest of the week looks quite nice with highs in the lower 80's on Thursday and Friday. I'm trying not to let the heat hold me back outside of pace but I have cut back drastically on my weekly long runs.

Kodos · 07-23-2014, 10:09 AM

Does anyone else have the problem where their arm falls asleep when they run? On many of my longer runs, my left arm ends up falling asleep or feeling numb. It's pretty annoying.

Alan T · 07-23-2014, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kodos

Does anyone else have the problem where their arm falls asleep when they run? On many of my longer runs, my left arm ends up falling asleep or feeling numb. It's pretty annoying.

I had that happen on one of my half marathons I ran, but normally not an issue for me. My belief was that during the race that I had the arm fall asleep, I was running with my upper body too clenched/too much stress and that tightness eventually ended up causing it to fall asleep.

Usually I try to run with my entire body relaxed to avoid that from happening, and if I find myself clenching my fists or holding my shoulders too tight, I'll make an effort to relax them.

Fidatelo · 07-23-2014, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kodos

Does anyone else have the problem where their arm falls asleep when they run? On many of my longer runs, my left arm ends up falling asleep or feeling numb. It's pretty annoying.

Yeah that happens to me sometimes, also on the longer runs. It's not usually my whole arms, but more my fingers. I've often wondered if it is some sort of heart-attack precursor, but I haven't dropped yet so I just put it out of my mind and keep chugging along

Kodos · 07-23-2014, 10:27 AM

I originally thought it was from holding my phone in my left hand, so I got a belt to carry the phone in. But that didn't stop it. I don't think I tense the arm or hand up, but I do make a conscious effort to have the hand open/relaxed, rather than clenched in a fist. I end up trying to elevate the arm over my head to try to revive it, but it's not really effective. It feels best when I let it hang like a limp sausage.

I've had those secret thoughts that this must be a heart attack warning, but I realize that's pretty silly. My hypochondriac theory goes more along the lines of "blood clot waiting to shoot into my heart" thoughts.

lighthousekeeper · 07-23-2014, 10:52 AM

Not sure if it has been posted before, but for those of you who use Strava and want more fun with data, check out this awesome site: http://veloviewer.com/

It has tons of statistical goodies.

Alan T · 07-23-2014, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

Not sure if it has been posted before, but for those of you who use Strava and want more fun with data, check out this awesome site: Welcome to VeloViewer!

It has tons of statistical goodies.

Pretty funny that you mention this. I actually had posted this to my facebook yesterday. It is my running history in graph form from Veloviewer. My comment on facebook is that I'm about 220 miles ahead of this time last year, and I think I have an outside chance of running 1500 miles this year if I manage to avoid injuries.

FrogMan · 07-23-2014, 02:09 PM

yeah, after seeing Alan's FB post about mileage and him reminding me it was from veloviewer, I revisited the site. Really lots of interesting info.

Attached is my mileage chart as well as a color coded for distance every day. Pretty interesting to see how I went building up my long runs gradually...

I only started running on May 30th last year so it's no big surprise that I'm over by a lot at the same time last year, but I'm still already some 170 km over my whole total for last year. I should be in line to do about 1300 miles. I had a goal of 1000 miles when I started the year...

FM

lighthousekeeper · 07-23-2014, 02:57 PM

Wow - that looks like the model of perfection. A personal trainer couldn't have drawn up a better plan than that. You can see a 3-month period of figuring things out, then a slow, steady progression of building up miles.

By contrast, here's the model of inconsistency below. Since starting 5/1/2013 around when this thread started, I've run 500+ miles, gained 10 pounds, and gotten markedly slower.

Kodos · 07-23-2014, 03:08 PM

Here's mine.

FrogMan · 07-23-2014, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

Wow - that looks like the model of perfection. A personal trainer couldn't have drawn up a better plan than that. You can see a 3-month period of figuring things out, then a slow, steady progression of building up miles.

thanks, ever since picking up my first Hal Higdon plan, I've been pretty good at sticking to it, adjusting it from training cycle to training cycle. It sure helps me to have a reason for the training, at least that I semi-know what I'm doing, or where I wanna go...

Still plenty of room to build, we'll take it one step at a time.

FM

FrogMan · 07-23-2014, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kodos

Here's mine.

hey, nice increase from last year to this year! Well done!

FM

Kodos · 07-23-2014, 03:15 PM

Yeah, this spring was the first time I was really able to run consistently on an every-other-day basis. I'm happy with my progress.

Alan T · 07-23-2014, 03:23 PM

On Kodos' graph, you can kind of see where the winter ended

FrogMan · 07-23-2014, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan T

On Kodos' graph, you can kind of see where the winter ended

lol, and same for me if I exclude my treadmill runs

FM

Kodos · 07-23-2014, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan T

On Kodos' graph, you can kind of see where the winter ended

Yep. I need to get a treadmill. Any recommendations?

Fidatelo · 07-23-2014, 03:57 PM

You guys put me to shame on these things, but here's mine:

FrogMan · 07-23-2014, 03:59 PM

This is the model I bought last September:
Commercial 1750 Treadmill | NordicTrack Treadmills

Bought it straight from nordictrack.ca and paid $1500 for it. Maybe the best decision I have ever made. I love that it does decline (down to -3%) as well as incline and there's no maintenance on it whatsoever. No lubing or whatever.

I see they seem to have a newer model, C1630 available to $1000.
C 1630 Pro | NordicTrack

They ship for free.

FM

Fidatelo · 07-23-2014, 04:00 PM

I think my favorite part of that site is the Run Bests section. I knew Strava was tracking it all but, at least in the unpaid version, there is no way to see it all in one place.

hoopsguy · 07-25-2014, 08:02 AM

Last night I ran the 5k race that I've been training for over the past couple of months.

When I ran this last year it was my first 5k; 2nd run, but the Chase challenge is 3.5 miles so a weird distance. I had a target time of 26:30 and posted a 25:20 so I was really excited about the progress I was making. Two days later, I had another 5k and lowered that time to 25:05.

I didn't schedule another 5k until Halloween that year, fearing the hot August months and for whatever reason struggling to get an event on the books in September. My running tailed off without having the carrot of a race in front of me and I didn't adequately pick up the pace as the race got close. It was cold outside (or at least cold enough for me to make excuses) in October and I had grown to dislike the treadmill runs. That Halloween run came in at 25:04, which was a little galling as I felt like I screwed up not getting my times under 25 last year.

Anyway, I didn't run in any meaningful way at all this winter. Let my weight creep up another 5-10 pounds in the process and when I got outside for my first runs this spring my 5k runs had me finishing in the 28+ minute range. Which was a little dismaying, as I wasn't prepared for that much of a backslide. I got the time down to 26:30 for an early April run and then got to work with a more aggressive commitment to running this year with the goal of lowering my times below where they had been this year. 24 was the written goal (on Smashrun) along with 1,000 miles for the year.

Subsequent runs this year have been a bit goofy. There was a small run 15 minutes from home in the first week in May where the course turned out to be 4.4km. On that day I wasn't going to get 25 minutes, but obviously it was disappointing to not see the final time at the right distance. The Chicago iteration of the Chase Corporate Challenge was three weeks later, but that is a 3.5 mile race. My pace for that run was right around 25:00 but still no PR to hang my hat on under what had become a bit of a mental block.

Three weeks later, I finally broke through on a training run and posted a 24.34 time. So at this point, my goals for the July 5k race changed, and I wanted to see if I could run at 24.00. I stuck religiously to the Hal Higdon intermediate training plan for the next 5 weeks, breaking it only in the final week as I had this 5k followed by a 10k on Saturday. The plan called for a number of easy runs and long runs, with only the tempo runs giving me meaningful insight into where I was on my 5k time. That last week I adjusted to provide me with a little different taper (3 days rest), and in the two days before the rest I wanted to see what I could do with some speed running last weekend to let me know if I was on target for my 24 minute goal.

The 5k test run on Saturday came in at 24:44. It wasn't a great test, as I originally started the run adhering to the 5 mile fast HH recommendation, but changed my mind about 2km into the run. My pacing was a bit off, there were a few more hills than I would do for a flat track, and other things I could rationalize in my head but this still was a fair amount away from my goal.

I had figured out that I wanted to try and (near) negative split the 5k, breaking it into the following intervals:
1km - 5:00
2km - 4:50
3km - 4:40
4km - 4:40
5km - 4:40

Which would represent a 23:50 time. However, I had never run 3km at a 4:40 pace before, let alone the closing 3km of a race. So Sunday I set out to run 3km at the fastest pace I could hold, and posted a time that represented an average of 4:30. Mission accomplished, time for my rest, and to see if the 24 mark was falling.

Weather was perfect for the run. 70 degrees, nothing scary on humidity front, running on Lake Michigan with maybe 8mph winds. I was running with a bunch of people from work and we were late making our way over to the start. There were no gates segregating runners here, so our position was not optimal. 800 runners, we were middle of the pack, and looking around me I was pretty sure I was going to have to be pretty aggressive passing people around me out of the chute if I wanted to get off to the fast start needed to hit my time.

Which is exactly what I did. The race was run on a pretty wide bike path, so I was swerving off the fine gravel surface onto grass pretty regularly over the first 1/2km in an effort to find a group running at my pace. Which was about 4:40 ... hmm, time to change attack plans and see if I could run the first 3 km at 4:40 and then hold on tight for the last two km. I knew I was running fairly easy now, but I also recalled just how gassed I was on Sunday after 3km at 4:30.

At the 3km mark I was on pace for my 4:40 plan. Looking at the Strava data, the splits were 4:39/4:39/4:36 but I was starting to hit a wall. The two mile mark is regularly where I start to suffer on my training runs, and where I would sometimes stop last year. Now I am better about slowing my pace and finishing the run with a lesser time, but that wasn't a real option for me if I wanted to hit my 24:00 goal. I wasn't running the numbers in my head super-clearly at this point, but I did know that I would have to sustain 5 minute kilometers the rest of the way to hit my goal. Which was doable, but probably not if I fell back to 5:00 for my 4th km. So time to push through ...

4th km time was 4:46, which let me know that I was in really good shape for hitting my goal. That was reassuring because I was gassed at this point. I made a point of refusing to look at my heart rate for fear that it would demoralize me. It definitely would have, as my average heart rate for the 4th km was 181. The 3rd kilometer was 177, which also falls into my "anaerobic" zone. As I pushed down the stretch the pace on my watch was showing somewhere in the 4:45 range, so I was going to post a nice mid-23 time.

Only the race was coming to an end too soon. My watch said 4.5km, but I could see the finish line. No way that was another 1/2km away. My legs were shot, but I tried to push it up to another gear to close out the race. I think I managed to pass about the same number of people who passed me at this point but it wasn't much of a finishing kick. Some of my co-workers were cheering me on with about 150m to go, with one yelling, "don't look at your time, just dig in!" without realizing that I wasn't sweating time but the fact that there was no way in hell that this was going to be a 5km race.

I crossed the finish line with the distance being about 4.85km and kept my run going for a few paces. Here was my inner monologue at this point:
- "Just keep running until your watch says 5.0km so this is official on your watch, if not on the race site"
- "I'm being a little rude barreling through this crowd of people, sucking on orange slices and having their post race conversations with family/friends"
- "I'm really, really, really tired"

So I cut bait at 4.9km, with a time of 22:54. No official 5k race time under 25 minutes to call my own, but I do know that the training over the past two months (120km last month, probably a smidge more this month) has paid off in much faster times. I need to get another 5k on the books soon; no waiting until October this year. And then I'll see if I can post a time under 23 minutes this year, which was my goal time internally before my fat, out-of-shape ass posted 28+ minutes on the first run of the spring.

10k on Saturday. It will be my first time running a race at that distance, although I've done weekend runs at this distance several times, including just about every weekend in June and July. My best time for a 10k is just under 55 minutes, and I'm hoping to improve that by a couple of minutes tomorrow. But I'm not going into it with the same kind of emphasis on time as I had for this 5k. I don't really know what I can run at this distance, and accept that if I push for something like a 52:00 that I may end up crashing and burning. So whatever happens, happens. I just want to feel good about this run and set a time to target for the next time I get out and run at this distance.

hoopsguy · 07-25-2014, 08:12 AM

One final note - will be retiring my shoes after the 10k. My wife has started a Couch-to-5k and is about halfway through. She was shopping for some new shoes online when I intervened and told her that we should go to a running store to help her find the right pair. I want her to have the best opportunity to keep running after she finishes this program and I figure getting the right pair of shoes would help her with motivation. And if I happened to to look at a couple of pairs of shoes that day, well so much the better given the 250-300 or so miles I had accumulated on the current pair.

So, I've got a pair of Brooks Ghost 7's sitting in a box right now. I wasn't going to swap out shoes 10 days before my 5k/10k runs, even though the person at the running store strongly advocated I do exactly that. I knew what I was getting with my current shoes, had put all my training time in with those shoes, and the Ghost's will have the opportunity to mark the start of the next chapter of my running life. The current Brooks Adrenaline's get to see me through Saturday's race before surrendering the foot pod and being shipped off to the glue factory (ie - rain day runs, walks with family, etc.)

Lathum · 07-25-2014, 08:22 AM

Does anyone know if there is a feature where you can plug Strava into a treadmill to track how far you have gone, times, etc...I am going to start running at the Y on really hot/ stormy. etc...days

HerRealName · 07-25-2014, 09:04 AM

hoopsguy, Great job on the race. Was the course certified? If so, you can safely trust the certification over your watch measurement as the watch is going to be a little off. I have the Ghosts too and they're a great shoe. In my experience, Brooks hold up so much better than other brands.

Latham, you can use foot pods for tracking treadmill runs.

Alan T · 07-25-2014, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lathum

Does anyone know if there is a feature where you can plug Strava into a treadmill to track how far you have gone, times, etc...I am going to start running at the Y on really hot/ stormy. etc...days

For indoor runs, using the strava iphone app only, you have to just enter it into Strava manually by copying in the information from the treadmill.

If you find yourself getting more serious about it or planning on doing a bunch more indoor running, you have a few options, but both require purchases. As Todd said above, you can get a footpod that keeps track of how many steps that you have taken while running and converts it into distance/pace. The footpod has to connect to something either, I believe there are some footpods you can get that will work natively with the iphone app, but I do not know which ones those are.. or what many of us have done is purchase a GPS running watch that also has a footpod sync to it, and then you don't have to worry about using your iphone while running anymore.

Alan T · 07-25-2014, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

So I cut bait at 4.9km, with a time of 22:54. No official 5k race time under 25 minutes to call my own, but I do know that the training over the past two months (120km last month, probably a smidge more this month) has paid off in much faster times.

As I said on strava, great job! As Todd mentioned, if this was a certified course then it was wheel measured at 5k and trumps your watch for the legitimacy of the distance. If uncertified, then at least you know that you easily had a sub 24 minute 5k time there, and you absolutely have been doing great in improving!

Kodos · 07-25-2014, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrogMan

This is the model I bought last September:
Commercial 1750 Treadmill | NordicTrack Treadmills

Bought it straight from nordictrack.ca and paid $1500 for it. Maybe the best decision I have ever made. I love that it does decline (down to -3%) as well as incline and there's no maintenance on it whatsoever. No lubing or whatever.

I see they seem to have a newer model, C1630 available to $1000.
C 1630 Pro | NordicTrack

They ship for free.

FM

Thanks for the recommendations. You've been pretty satisfied with the $1500 version? My wife wants to replace our stationary bike, and she seems open to a treadmill, which obviously would be great for me come winter.

Anyone else have any recommendations?

Lathum · 07-25-2014, 09:37 AM

anyone ever use a sportband or something similar?

My wifes boss swears by hers.

Nike+ FuelBand SE. Nike Store

Kodos · 07-25-2014, 09:38 AM

And let me pile on with another "Nice job!", hoopsguy. You can see your work starting to pay off!

FrogMan · 07-25-2014, 09:41 AM

awesome job hoopsguy, no matter if the course was the right distance, or if your watch was off or not, the best is you now know you can push it and that was proof that the training paid off. Is there anything better than that? To get confirmation that the hard work was not in vain? I think not...

I also run with Ghost 7, in fact alternating between a pair of 6 and my newer 7. Love them, great neutral shoes. Thinking about finding a pair with a slightly sturdier sole for winter running though. I liked my Asics Nimbus las winter and have the feeling the Ghost might be a bit soft for packed snow/icy surface running, just an impression...

FM

Kodos · 07-25-2014, 09:46 AM

I'd like to pick the brains of our running experts here. I have a 5K coming up on Saturday, August 2nd. Below is what is scheduled from my Intermediate Half Marathon training plan on RunKeeper. Obviously, running 9 miles two days before would not be conducive to a good result. I'm thinking of maybe shifting the next 9 mile run to Sunday (July 27th), then maybe a 5 mile recovery run on Tuesday. Maybe a shorter run on Thursday, around 4 miles. Does that seem like a decent plan?

Alan T · 07-25-2014, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lathum

anyone ever use a sportband or something similar?

My wifes boss swears by hers.

Nike+ FuelBand SE. Nike Store

Just a warning, Nike fired all of their fuelband staff and I believe are not going to be continuing that product line. It sounds like they are going a different direction by integrating with another hardware vendor (perhaps apple). So you may want to hold off on getting a fuelband.

If you want something similar though, I know fitbits are pretty popular, but they seem to be more geared for walking or hiking than running.

One of the newer options out that may interest you based on your previous question about keeping track of distance on a treadmill is Garmin's new FR15 which is a combination of a low end/budget GPS watch plus a sportband type tracker like a fitbit/fuelband.

Full details on Garmin’s new FR15 combined GPS watch + activity monitor | DC Rainmaker

Alan T · 07-25-2014, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kodos

I'd like to pick the brains of our running experts here. I have a 5K coming up on Saturday, August 2nd. Below is what is scheduled from my Intermediate Half Marathon training plan on RunKeeper. Obviously, running 9 miles two days before would not be conducive to a good result. I'm thinking of maybe shifting the next 9 mile run to Sunday, then maybe a 5 mile recovery run on Tuesday. Maybe a shorter run on Thursday, around 4 miles. Does that seem like a decent plan?

Are you meaning race the 5k on Saturday the 2nd followed by run 9 miles on Sunday the 3rd? If so, I think I would caution against that. Even though a 5k is a short distance, if you are racing it, you'll likely be red-lined for almost the entire thing which means you will be thrashing your muscles. In a half marathon training plan, generally your "hard days" are your speed work and your long runs. All other runs are considered easy days. I wouldn't go back to back on two straight "hard days" even if different types of workouts.

What I probably would do if I felt i absolutely wanted to race the 5k hard would be something like: August 2: Run very easy 1 mile warm up - Race 5k (3.1 miles) - Run a very easy 2 mile recovery / August 3: Easy 3 mile recovery run.

You'll combine a total of 9 miles between the two days, but substitute a long run with a speed workout essentially. Then just continue on with your schedule as it is written out from there.

Kodos · 07-25-2014, 09:59 AM

No, I mean this Sunday I would run 9 miles, then taper things off during the week in preparation for the race.

hoopsguy · 07-25-2014, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan T

As I said on strava, great job! As Todd mentioned, if this was a certified course then it was wheel measured at 5k and trumps your watch for the legitimacy of the distance. If uncertified, then at least you know that you easily had a sub 24 minute 5k time there, and you absolutely have been doing great in improving!

Yep, it was a CARA certified course which is a big part of the reason I was confused with the distance being off.

Alan T · 07-25-2014, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kodos

No, I mean this Sunday I would run 9 miles, then taper things off during the week in preparation for the race.

Yeah I don't see that would be a big deal. You could essentially swap the workouts from the 27th and 30th if you wanted. Just keep the 30th very easy pace.

Alan T · 07-25-2014, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Yep, it was a CARA certified course which is a big part of the reason I was confused with the distance being off.

Yeah, if it is certified, they generally wheel measure it. What likely happened is when you take corners with a gps watch, depending on how locked in the GPS accuracy is (sometimes more sketchy in wooded areas or among high buildings), the GPS can cut across to connect up the dots rather than take the actual curve path you take. This is actually pretty common on paths with a big hook like your race appeared to have at a turn around point. Most likely the GPS watch just cut off a little bit of the distance for you.

Kodos · 07-25-2014, 10:10 AM

Cool, thanks Alan. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't a flaw in my plan.

FrogMan · 07-25-2014, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kodos

Thanks for the recommendations. You've been pretty satisfied with the $1500 version? My wife wants to replace our stationary bike, and she seems open to a treadmill, which obviously would be great for me come winter.

Anyone else have any recommendations?

absolutely satisfied with it. I have put some 773 km on it, close to 69 hours. It has a iPad holder on which I rest my iPad and watch downloaded TV shows. Only way I could keep up with Arrow and Agents of Shield during the season, so much so that I sill have a couple episodes of each to watch since I started running outdoor before their seasons ended...

that $1000 model didn't exist at the time though and I'm pretty sure it could do the trick quite well... Both console look very similar other than mine having an Android tablet for screen. Could use it to surf the web but I'd never do that while running anyway...

FM

FrogMan · 07-25-2014, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kodos

I'd like to pick the brains of our running experts here. I have a 5K coming up on Saturday, August 2nd. Below is what is scheduled from my Intermediate Half Marathon training plan on RunKeeper. Obviously, running 9 miles two days before would not be conducive to a good result. I'm thinking of maybe shifting the next 9 mile run to Sunday (July 27th), then maybe a 5 mile recovery run on Tuesday. Maybe a shorter run on Thursday, around 4 miles. Does that seem like a decent plan?

I personally wouldn't see any problem with that switch.

FM

hoopsguy · 07-25-2014, 02:39 PM

Hardly an expert, but having just gone through mixing/matching calendar the week before a 5k I figured I would chime in. The 4 mile "recovery" run would probably be fine for that Thursday. But I'm not sure it would be the end of the world to skip the day altogether either. What does your 10k training plan call for in terms of taper period the week before the run? I'm guessing lower distances and 2-3 days off. If you aren't doing any pull-back on distances for those runs 4-7 days out then the 3 day rest period might make sense.

I ended up taking three days off before the 5k, which might have been too much. But I had a hard time talking myself into something like 2mi easy for the Tuesday so just figured that 3 days downtime wasn't going to kill me even if the cool weather was practically begging me to get out and stretch my legs.

AlexB · 07-26-2014, 04:19 AM

This a pretty amazing story!

BBC Sport - Steve Way: From cigarettes and alcohol to marathon man

FrogMan · 07-26-2014, 11:33 PM

the more I play with Veloviewer, the more I'm impressed by it and the data it's got. I'm seriously thinking I will not view my runs through Strava anymore but right from Veloviewer just after importing them through Strava.

The 3D view is very neat...

FM

hoopsguy · 07-28-2014, 09:44 PM

First 10k in the books this Saturday. Pretty pleased with time; it is a little slower than my 5k pace from the same race last year and about 3.5 minutes faster than my last training run at this distance.

Now time to break in the new shoes, find another 5k to run, and hope that Chicago's unseasonably cool July bleeds into August.

timmae · 07-29-2014, 10:41 AM

great stuff hoops... Reminds me I need to get into some of the events around Chicago. Where do you run mostly? Lakefront? I have been running the Montrose-Central-Irving Park rd-Cicero loop for a few months and need to add distance and new locales. My goal is by years end to make it from Portage Park to Montrose Beach and back.

hoopsguy · 07-29-2014, 05:22 PM

I should probably update my profile, as I'm actually out in the west burbs these days. So most weekdays I'm running in Hanover Park/Bartlett/Carol Stream and sometimes getting out to Winfield/Wheaton on the weekends. I'm hoping that over the summer/fall that I'm able to stretch out a little farther on my longer runs to cover more distance on this trail:

Great Western Trail Illinois Trail Reviews

As far as races, I'm probably about 50/50 between Chicago and races within 15 miles of home. If you have one in mind to run at some point this year let me know and would try to sign up for it.

HerRealName · 08-03-2014, 10:10 AM

This week didn't go as planned.

After a few good weeks I was hoping to get my first 160 mile month in July. All I needed was 5 runs of 5 miles a day with 6 days left in the month. That should have been easy enough but we had a family beach trip in Port Aransas, TX. The humidity there just beat me down. I got 5 runs in but went on Friday and not Thursday. I also didn't reach 5 miles for any of my runs and ended up with around 150 miles for the month and then an extra 4 on Friday. The goal was not reached but I did have some runs with great scenery and produced massive amounts of sweat.

I also forgot to pack my Garmin charger cable with me. My old Nike watch wouldn't make it 3 runs without draining completely. My Garmin still had around 50% battery left over. I thought that was very impressive.

My plan for August is to cut back a bit. I'm thinking about training for the Dallas Marathon in December and training would start near the beginning of September. I'm thinking about cutting back on the number of runs per week from 6/7 to 4/5 per week and maybe concentrating more on the long runs a little more. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've tried Google'ing what to do the month before training begins but I haven't found anything.

Alan T · 08-04-2014, 07:53 AM

Just got back in the country yesterday, trying to catch up on the forums.. great job on the 10k Hoops!

Todd, the various marathon plans that I've used have suggested that you do not want to start the first week of the marathon training with a huge jump in the miles. So for example, if the plan you are using starts you off at around 30-35 miles per week in week 1 you want to be easily running at least 25 miles per week the week or two before starting.

Most marathon plans seem to use the first few weeks as base building before really getting into lactate threshold runs, so probably anything you do the month before you could likely just keep easy aerobic pace to keep the miles going without it being overly taxing on you.

As far as cutting back on days from 6/7 to 4/5 per week, there seems to be different schools of thought on that. Most of the ones that seem to work for me suggest cutting back on days doesn't really help your running and doesn't prevent overtraining. What does is making sure that a few of those days are super easy pace so they aren't tough to run and where they are pretty enjoyable. The largest reasons to cut back tend to be more focused on busy real life that just makes running more days tougher.. or doing other types of physical training in addition to running (lifting/cycling/triathlon/crossfit/etc).

I think right now I'm on a plan that has 5 running days per week myself, the other 2 days are either rest days or crosstraining days, but as the plan continues to add miles, I lose the 2nd rest day and go to 6 runs per week .

07-14-2014, 08:50 AM	#1651
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	Yeah, the heat and humidity are killers. I was feeling it toward the end up my 8 mile run yesterday. __________________ Author of The Bill Gates Challenge, as well as other groundbreaking dynasties.

07-14-2014, 09:57 AM	#1652
Fidatelo Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Winnipeg, MB	I would kill for some heat. The high was 12 degrees celcius yesterday. Technically that's probably really good running weather but I just want a stretch of nice, hot sunny days to run in for awhile. Not that I ran yesterday, but still __________________ "Breakfast? Breakfast schmekfast, look at the score for God's sake. It's only the second period and I'm winning 12-2. Breakfasts come and go, Rene, but Hartford, the Whale, they only beat Vancouver maybe once or twice in a lifetime."

07-14-2014, 11:37 AM	#1653
Icy Pro Starter Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Toledo - Spain	Yesterday i was going to run 12k, but at 34ºC (93F) at 21:00! I was wasted after 7K and ran 3k more to a total of 10k, when i had to stop and walk back home the remaining 2k. I guess it was because the temperature even drinking at every k (ran with a camelback water pack). __________________ Last edited by Icy : 07-14-2014 at 11:38 AM.

07-23-2014, 10:09 AM	#1655
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	Does anyone else have the problem where their arm falls asleep when they run? On many of my longer runs, my left arm ends up falling asleep or feeling numb. It's pretty annoying. __________________ Author of The Bill Gates Challenge, as well as other groundbreaking dynasties.

07-23-2014, 10:27 AM	#1658
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	I originally thought it was from holding my phone in my left hand, so I got a belt to carry the phone in. But that didn't stop it. I don't think I tense the arm or hand up, but I do make a conscious effort to have the hand open/relaxed, rather than clenched in a fist. I end up trying to elevate the arm over my head to try to revive it, but it's not really effective. It feels best when I let it hang like a limp sausage. I've had those secret thoughts that this must be a heart attack warning, but I realize that's pretty silly. My hypochondriac theory goes more along the lines of "blood clot waiting to shoot into my heart" thoughts. __________________ Author of The Bill Gates Challenge, as well as other groundbreaking dynasties. Last edited by Kodos : 07-23-2014 at 10:29 AM.

07-14-2014, 03:28 PM	#1654
HerRealName College Prospect Join Date: Dec 2002	It was 96 when I finished today but the rest of the week looks quite nice with highs in the lower 80's on Thursday and Friday. I'm trying not to let the heat hold me back outside of pace but I have cut back drastically on my weekly long runs.

07-23-2014, 10:52 AM	#1659
lighthousekeeper College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	Not sure if it has been posted before, but for those of you who use Strava and want more fun with data, check out this awesome site: http://veloviewer.com/ It has tons of statistical goodies. __________________ ...

07-23-2014, 03:15 PM	#1666
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	Yeah, this spring was the first time I was really able to run consistently on an every-other-day basis. I'm happy with my progress. __________________ Author of The Bill Gates Challenge, as well as other groundbreaking dynasties.

07-23-2014, 03:23 PM	#1667
Alan T Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mass.	On Kodos' graph, you can kind of see where the winter ended __________________ Couch to ??k - From the couch to a Marathon in roughly 18 months.

07-23-2014, 03:59 PM	#1671
FrogMan Hattrick Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada	This is the model I bought last September: Commercial 1750 Treadmill \| NordicTrack Treadmills Bought it straight from nordictrack.ca and paid $1500 for it. Maybe the best decision I have ever made. I love that it does decline (down to -3%) as well as incline and there's no maintenance on it whatsoever. No lubing or whatever. I see they seem to have a newer model, C1630 available to $1000. C 1630 Pro \| NordicTrack They ship for free. FM __________________ A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog...

07-23-2014, 04:00 PM	#1672
Fidatelo Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Winnipeg, MB	I think my favorite part of that site is the Run Bests section. I knew Strava was tracking it all but, at least in the unpaid version, there is no way to see it all in one place. __________________ "Breakfast? Breakfast schmekfast, look at the score for God's sake. It's only the second period and I'm winning 12-2. Breakfasts come and go, Rene, but Hartford, the Whale, they only beat Vancouver maybe once or twice in a lifetime." Last edited by Fidatelo : 07-23-2014 at 04:00 PM. Reason: FM broke my Dola

07-25-2014, 08:02 AM	#1673
hoopsguy General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chicago	Last night I ran the 5k race that I've been training for over the past couple of months. When I ran this last year it was my first 5k; 2nd run, but the Chase challenge is 3.5 miles so a weird distance. I had a target time of 26:30 and posted a 25:20 so I was really excited about the progress I was making. Two days later, I had another 5k and lowered that time to 25:05. I didn't schedule another 5k until Halloween that year, fearing the hot August months and for whatever reason struggling to get an event on the books in September. My running tailed off without having the carrot of a race in front of me and I didn't adequately pick up the pace as the race got close. It was cold outside (or at least cold enough for me to make excuses) in October and I had grown to dislike the treadmill runs. That Halloween run came in at 25:04, which was a little galling as I felt like I screwed up not getting my times under 25 last year. Anyway, I didn't run in any meaningful way at all this winter. Let my weight creep up another 5-10 pounds in the process and when I got outside for my first runs this spring my 5k runs had me finishing in the 28+ minute range. Which was a little dismaying, as I wasn't prepared for that much of a backslide. I got the time down to 26:30 for an early April run and then got to work with a more aggressive commitment to running this year with the goal of lowering my times below where they had been this year. 24 was the written goal (on Smashrun) along with 1,000 miles for the year. Subsequent runs this year have been a bit goofy. There was a small run 15 minutes from home in the first week in May where the course turned out to be 4.4km. On that day I wasn't going to get 25 minutes, but obviously it was disappointing to not see the final time at the right distance. The Chicago iteration of the Chase Corporate Challenge was three weeks later, but that is a 3.5 mile race. My pace for that run was right around 25:00 but still no PR to hang my hat on under what had become a bit of a mental block. Three weeks later, I finally broke through on a training run and posted a 24.34 time. So at this point, my goals for the July 5k race changed, and I wanted to see if I could run at 24.00. I stuck religiously to the Hal Higdon intermediate training plan for the next 5 weeks, breaking it only in the final week as I had this 5k followed by a 10k on Saturday. The plan called for a number of easy runs and long runs, with only the tempo runs giving me meaningful insight into where I was on my 5k time. That last week I adjusted to provide me with a little different taper (3 days rest), and in the two days before the rest I wanted to see what I could do with some speed running last weekend to let me know if I was on target for my 24 minute goal. The 5k test run on Saturday came in at 24:44. It wasn't a great test, as I originally started the run adhering to the 5 mile fast HH recommendation, but changed my mind about 2km into the run. My pacing was a bit off, there were a few more hills than I would do for a flat track, and other things I could rationalize in my head but this still was a fair amount away from my goal. I had figured out that I wanted to try and (near) negative split the 5k, breaking it into the following intervals: 1km - 5:00 2km - 4:50 3km - 4:40 4km - 4:40 5km - 4:40 Which would represent a 23:50 time. However, I had never run 3km at a 4:40 pace before, let alone the closing 3km of a race. So Sunday I set out to run 3km at the fastest pace I could hold, and posted a time that represented an average of 4:30. Mission accomplished, time for my rest, and to see if the 24 mark was falling. Weather was perfect for the run. 70 degrees, nothing scary on humidity front, running on Lake Michigan with maybe 8mph winds. I was running with a bunch of people from work and we were late making our way over to the start. There were no gates segregating runners here, so our position was not optimal. 800 runners, we were middle of the pack, and looking around me I was pretty sure I was going to have to be pretty aggressive passing people around me out of the chute if I wanted to get off to the fast start needed to hit my time. Which is exactly what I did. The race was run on a pretty wide bike path, so I was swerving off the fine gravel surface onto grass pretty regularly over the first 1/2km in an effort to find a group running at my pace. Which was about 4:40 ... hmm, time to change attack plans and see if I could run the first 3 km at 4:40 and then hold on tight for the last two km. I knew I was running fairly easy now, but I also recalled just how gassed I was on Sunday after 3km at 4:30. At the 3km mark I was on pace for my 4:40 plan. Looking at the Strava data, the splits were 4:39/4:39/4:36 but I was starting to hit a wall. The two mile mark is regularly where I start to suffer on my training runs, and where I would sometimes stop last year. Now I am better about slowing my pace and finishing the run with a lesser time, but that wasn't a real option for me if I wanted to hit my 24:00 goal. I wasn't running the numbers in my head super-clearly at this point, but I did know that I would have to sustain 5 minute kilometers the rest of the way to hit my goal. Which was doable, but probably not if I fell back to 5:00 for my 4th km. So time to push through ... 4th km time was 4:46, which let me know that I was in really good shape for hitting my goal. That was reassuring because I was gassed at this point. I made a point of refusing to look at my heart rate for fear that it would demoralize me. It definitely would have, as my average heart rate for the 4th km was 181. The 3rd kilometer was 177, which also falls into my "anaerobic" zone. As I pushed down the stretch the pace on my watch was showing somewhere in the 4:45 range, so I was going to post a nice mid-23 time. Only the race was coming to an end too soon. My watch said 4.5km, but I could see the finish line. No way that was another 1/2km away. My legs were shot, but I tried to push it up to another gear to close out the race. I think I managed to pass about the same number of people who passed me at this point but it wasn't much of a finishing kick. Some of my co-workers were cheering me on with about 150m to go, with one yelling, "don't look at your time, just dig in!" without realizing that I wasn't sweating time but the fact that there was no way in hell that this was going to be a 5km race. I crossed the finish line with the distance being about 4.85km and kept my run going for a few paces. Here was my inner monologue at this point: - "Just keep running until your watch says 5.0km so this is official on your watch, if not on the race site" - "I'm being a little rude barreling through this crowd of people, sucking on orange slices and having their post race conversations with family/friends" - "I'm really, really, really tired" So I cut bait at 4.9km, with a time of 22:54. No official 5k race time under 25 minutes to call my own, but I do know that the training over the past two months (120km last month, probably a smidge more this month) has paid off in much faster times. I need to get another 5k on the books soon; no waiting until October this year. And then I'll see if I can post a time under 23 minutes this year, which was my goal time internally before my fat, out-of-shape ass posted 28+ minutes on the first run of the spring. 10k on Saturday. It will be my first time running a race at that distance, although I've done weekend runs at this distance several times, including just about every weekend in June and July. My best time for a 10k is just under 55 minutes, and I'm hoping to improve that by a couple of minutes tomorrow. But I'm not going into it with the same kind of emphasis on time as I had for this 5k. I don't really know what I can run at this distance, and accept that if I push for something like a 52:00 that I may end up crashing and burning. So whatever happens, happens. I just want to feel good about this run and set a time to target for the next time I get out and run at this distance.

07-25-2014, 08:12 AM	#1674
hoopsguy General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chicago	One final note - will be retiring my shoes after the 10k. My wife has started a Couch-to-5k and is about halfway through. She was shopping for some new shoes online when I intervened and told her that we should go to a running store to help her find the right pair. I want her to have the best opportunity to keep running after she finishes this program and I figure getting the right pair of shoes would help her with motivation. And if I happened to to look at a couple of pairs of shoes that day, well so much the better given the 250-300 or so miles I had accumulated on the current pair. So, I've got a pair of Brooks Ghost 7's sitting in a box right now. I wasn't going to swap out shoes 10 days before my 5k/10k runs, even though the person at the running store strongly advocated I do exactly that. I knew what I was getting with my current shoes, had put all my training time in with those shoes, and the Ghost's will have the opportunity to mark the start of the next chapter of my running life. The current Brooks Adrenaline's get to see me through Saturday's race before surrendering the foot pod and being shipped off to the glue factory (ie - rain day runs, walks with family, etc.)

07-25-2014, 08:22 AM	#1675
Lathum Favored Bitch #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: homeless in NJ	Does anyone know if there is a feature where you can plug Strava into a treadmill to track how far you have gone, times, etc...I am going to start running at the Y on really hot/ stormy. etc...days

07-25-2014, 09:04 AM	#1676
HerRealName College Prospect Join Date: Dec 2002	hoopsguy, Great job on the race. Was the course certified? If so, you can safely trust the certification over your watch measurement as the watch is going to be a little off. I have the Ghosts too and they're a great shoe. In my experience, Brooks hold up so much better than other brands. Latham, you can use foot pods for tracking treadmill runs.

07-25-2014, 09:37 AM	#1680
Lathum Favored Bitch #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: homeless in NJ	anyone ever use a sportband or something similar? My wifes boss swears by hers. Nike+ FuelBand SE. Nike Store

07-25-2014, 09:38 AM	#1681
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	And let me pile on with another "Nice job!", hoopsguy. You can see your work starting to pay off! __________________ Author of The Bill Gates Challenge, as well as other groundbreaking dynasties.

07-25-2014, 09:41 AM	#1682
FrogMan Hattrick Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada	awesome job hoopsguy, no matter if the course was the right distance, or if your watch was off or not, the best is you now know you can push it and that was proof that the training paid off. Is there anything better than that? To get confirmation that the hard work was not in vain? I think not... I also run with Ghost 7, in fact alternating between a pair of 6 and my newer 7. Love them, great neutral shoes. Thinking about finding a pair with a slightly sturdier sole for winter running though. I liked my Asics Nimbus las winter and have the feeling the Ghost might be a bit soft for packed snow/icy surface running, just an impression... FM __________________ A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog...

07-25-2014, 09:59 AM	#1686
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	No, I mean this Sunday I would run 9 miles, then taper things off during the week in preparation for the race. __________________ Author of The Bill Gates Challenge, as well as other groundbreaking dynasties.

07-25-2014, 10:10 AM	#1690
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	Cool, thanks Alan. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't a flaw in my plan. __________________ Author of The Bill Gates Challenge, as well as other groundbreaking dynasties.

07-25-2014, 02:39 PM	#1693
hoopsguy General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chicago	Hardly an expert, but having just gone through mixing/matching calendar the week before a 5k I figured I would chime in. The 4 mile "recovery" run would probably be fine for that Thursday. But I'm not sure it would be the end of the world to skip the day altogether either. What does your 10k training plan call for in terms of taper period the week before the run? I'm guessing lower distances and 2-3 days off. If you aren't doing any pull-back on distances for those runs 4-7 days out then the 3 day rest period might make sense. I ended up taking three days off before the 5k, which might have been too much. But I had a hard time talking myself into something like 2mi easy for the Tuesday so just figured that 3 days downtime wasn't going to kill me even if the cool weather was practically begging me to get out and stretch my legs.

07-26-2014, 04:19 AM	#1694
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	This a pretty amazing story! BBC Sport - Steve Way: From cigarettes and alcohol to marathon man __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

07-26-2014, 11:33 PM	#1695
FrogMan Hattrick Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada	the more I play with Veloviewer, the more I'm impressed by it and the data it's got. I'm seriously thinking I will not view my runs through Strava anymore but right from Veloviewer just after importing them through Strava. The 3D view is very neat... FM __________________ A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog...

07-28-2014, 09:44 PM	#1696
hoopsguy General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chicago	First 10k in the books this Saturday. Pretty pleased with time; it is a little slower than my 5k pace from the same race last year and about 3.5 minutes faster than my last training run at this distance. Now time to break in the new shoes, find another 5k to run, and hope that Chicago's unseasonably cool July bleeds into August.

07-29-2014, 10:41 AM	#1697
timmae College Starter Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Chicago	great stuff hoops... Reminds me I need to get into some of the events around Chicago. Where do you run mostly? Lakefront? I have been running the Montrose-Central-Irving Park rd-Cicero loop for a few months and need to add distance and new locales. My goal is by years end to make it from Portage Park to Montrose Beach and back. __________________ Interactive OOTP 15 Dynasty (Single Season) CHAMPION!! Oh yeah... Happy New York Day everyone!

07-29-2014, 05:22 PM	#1698
hoopsguy General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chicago	I should probably update my profile, as I'm actually out in the west burbs these days. So most weekdays I'm running in Hanover Park/Bartlett/Carol Stream and sometimes getting out to Winfield/Wheaton on the weekends. I'm hoping that over the summer/fall that I'm able to stretch out a little farther on my longer runs to cover more distance on this trail: Great Western Trail Illinois Trail Reviews As far as races, I'm probably about 50/50 between Chicago and races within 15 miles of home. If you have one in mind to run at some point this year let me know and would try to sign up for it.

08-03-2014, 10:10 AM	#1699
HerRealName College Prospect Join Date: Dec 2002	This week didn't go as planned. After a few good weeks I was hoping to get my first 160 mile month in July. All I needed was 5 runs of 5 miles a day with 6 days left in the month. That should have been easy enough but we had a family beach trip in Port Aransas, TX. The humidity there just beat me down. I got 5 runs in but went on Friday and not Thursday. I also didn't reach 5 miles for any of my runs and ended up with around 150 miles for the month and then an extra 4 on Friday. The goal was not reached but I did have some runs with great scenery and produced massive amounts of sweat. I also forgot to pack my Garmin charger cable with me. My old Nike watch wouldn't make it 3 runs without draining completely. My Garmin still had around 50% battery left over. I thought that was very impressive. My plan for August is to cut back a bit. I'm thinking about training for the Dallas Marathon in December and training would start near the beginning of September. I'm thinking about cutting back on the number of runs per week from 6/7 to 4/5 per week and maybe concentrating more on the long runs a little more. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've tried Google'ing what to do the month before training begins but I haven't found anything.

08-04-2014, 07:53 AM	#1700
Alan T Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mass.	Just got back in the country yesterday, trying to catch up on the forums.. great job on the 10k Hoops! Todd, the various marathon plans that I've used have suggested that you do not want to start the first week of the marathon training with a huge jump in the miles. So for example, if the plan you are using starts you off at around 30-35 miles per week in week 1 you want to be easily running at least 25 miles per week the week or two before starting. Most marathon plans seem to use the first few weeks as base building before really getting into lactate threshold runs, so probably anything you do the month before you could likely just keep easy aerobic pace to keep the miles going without it being overly taxing on you. As far as cutting back on days from 6/7 to 4/5 per week, there seems to be different schools of thought on that. Most of the ones that seem to work for me suggest cutting back on days doesn't really help your running and doesn't prevent overtraining. What does is making sure that a few of those days are super easy pace so they aren't tough to run and where they are pretty enjoyable. The largest reasons to cut back tend to be more focused on busy real life that just makes running more days tougher.. or doing other types of physical training in addition to running (lifting/cycling/triathlon/crossfit/etc). I think right now I'm on a plan that has 5 running days per week myself, the other 2 days are either rest days or crosstraining days, but as the plan continues to add miles, I lose the 2nd rest day and go to 6 runs per week . __________________ Couch to ??k - From the couch to a Marathon in roughly 18 months.

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